U.S. President Barack Obama signs a series of executive orders about the administration's new gun law proposals as children who wrote letters to the White House about gun violence, (L-R) Hinna Zeejah, Taejah Goode, Julia Stokes and Grant Fritz, look on in the Eisenhower Executive Office building, on Jan.16 in Washington, DC.

WASHINGTON—Signing off on a raft of largely symbolic presidential directives was the easy part. Calling on Congress to get serious on gun control — that was easy, too.

But now comes the hard part for President Barack Obama, who on Wednesday pledged to gamble big on the far-from-certain prospects of major American gun legislation in the wake of the Newtown tragedy.

Calling for active support from parents, law enforcement, stakeholders of all stripes and even the children the measures are meant to protect, Obama vowed to awaken a tide-turning coalition to achieve new federal laws banning assault weapons, limiting high-capacity magazines and making background checks universal.

“This time must be different,” he said, acknowledging the challenge of confronting an issue so deeply rooted in American identity.

“I will put everything I’ve got into this . . . but I tell you, the only way we can change is if the American people demand it.”

But the next steps could burn deeply into the president’s political capital as he must first persuade vulnerable Democrats in the Senate to sign off on the push before the Republican-controlled House will even look at the proposed reforms.

The NRA spot labelled Obama “just another elitist hypocrite” for sending his daughters to schools protected by armed guards while denying the same to everyday Americans.

White House spokesman Jay Carney slammed the move in a written statement, saying: “Most Americans agree that a president’s children should not be used as pawns in a political fight. But to go so far as to make the safety of the president’s children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly.”

Obama’s unilateral crackdown involved a series of executive orders aimed at enhancing existing gun laws through better information sharing. They also direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence to improve American understanding of the underlying causes.

None of the orders was expected to have any immediate major impact on U.S. gun trade. But the 23 directives sparked a wave of social media demands to “impeach” Obama for perceived violations to the U.S. Constitution’s second-amendment guarantee of the right to bear arms.

The national mood on guns remains raw in the emotional aftermath of the massacre at Sandy Hook. A new CNN/Time poll released Wednesday showed a majority of Americans (55 per cent) favour stricter gun laws, even though a slightly larger majority (61 per cent) do not believe legislation alone will reduce gun violence.

But the immensity of Obama’s challenge is clearest in the Senate, where success might hinge on winning support from as many as six key Democrats with a voting track record that tilts to the powerful NRA constituency.

And that, in turn, speaks to an ancient American love of guns that transcends party affiliation, according to University of Georgia historian Peter Charles Hoffer.

That love has been “fostered by a thriving handgun and hunting rifle industry” that began before the Civil War, Hoffer said in an email to the The Star.

Modern media factors, like the much-maligned violent video game industry, don’t simply promote gun ownership, they are “the result of a culture that worships weapons,” wrote Hoffer.

But that doesn’t necessarily mark Obama’s mission as impossible, given that elements of the White House proposals involve restoring previous gun control measures, he added.

“I hope but do not expect major changes in the culture,” wrote Hoffer. “But a return to older restrictions is certainly possible. We did it with cigarettes.”